High Five!!!
Second Half Blitz Seals Victory
A four goal second half blitz saw the Heyside team run out deserved winners by five goals to nil against an improving Ridge Hill Celtic team who despite their lowly league position always prove to be difficult opponents.
The result was all important today as both the Heyside teams looked to consolidate our lead at the top of the table following the disappointing results last time out which left Clayton narrowing the gap to 6 points with everything to play for.
With Lennon and Jake unavailable Joel started the game as a lone central defender with Ryan Jack and Luke playing across the middle behind Matty and Louis. At times this worked really well but we have a tendency to lose our shape through games and again we found ourselves drawn out of position as the half wore on.
Ridge Hill had one player in particular who was a real threat but again we defended well to protect George in goal with Joel outstanding.
We were certainly the more threatening side with good work from Luke providing a good chance for Jack to test the keeper and as usual Louis was proving to be a real danger down the right.
Another chance went begging when Jack just cleared the bar with one of his trade mark free kicks but shortly afterwards Heyside took the lead as Jack found Ryan on the edge of the area who showed great composure to turn and expertly slot the ball past the keeper into the corner of the goal.
Half time came and with no subs available Dan and I again emphasised the importance of working hard to ensure we took the much needed points.
Four minutes into the second half Matty pounced to fire the ball home much to Dan’s delight as he leapt on my back with a well timed run that I had failed to spot ending with us both in a heap on the floor. Imagine Ronnie Corbett giving a donkey ride to Geoff Capes!!! – That may be a slight exaggeration but that picture is not too far removed from the sight which had the A team lads in hysterics!
Needless to say after Matty superbly tucked the ball away for his second a few minutes later following great play from Luke, I swiftly moved away from Dan’s position to make sure there wasn’t an action replay!
Jack provided another assist for Luke to fire home his first goal of the season and then rounded off another great effort by sprinting away from a defender from half way and poking the ball home from close range to make the final score a resounding five nil victory.
Well done to everyone today for really hard working performance with good contributions from every player. At one nil George made a difficult save look easy and that made all the difference as the goals began to flow at the other end. Matty and Louis were both dangerous up front and again Ryan and Luke gave possibly their best displays of the season. Workaholic Jack again ran himself into the ground but is starting to show more composure around the box highlighted today by his superb pass for Luke’s goal. George in goal and Joel at the back were again on top of their games – overall a very pleasing display but I still think we have the players who can step up another level which we will need over the second half of the season.
MOM: Well done Luke for another top performance but any one of the players could have received the award today.
